While You Were Sleeping
by Pyromaanii
Summary: Seras is pregnant, and though Alucard shares her excitement, he is seemingly too embarrassed to let her know about it, so he prepares for their child while he /thinks/ she is sleeping. (Was originally marked as complete, but two more chapters have been added).
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I was thinking about how great of a father Alucard would be if the time ever arose, and I started thinking about a bunch of stuff that he would do or feel during the pregnancy. This fic doesn't include all of it, because I thought of way too much stuff, that was seemingly way out of character for Alucard (this fic is already way out of character for Alucard, but I wrote it anyways). I hope someone enjoys it. I thought it was a cute idea. Cute+Alucard is my favourite combination._

* * *

_While You Were Sleeping_

Seras knew all the things Alucard did while he thought she was sleeping.

She had made much progress as a vampire in the years of his absence. She was bold enough to say that her abilities were almost just as good as his were. Because she had gotten so much better, it was very easy for her to sneak up on him and watch and listen to the things he did. Some of these things Alucard knew Seras knew about. Others he didn't. But just because Seras knew, didn't mean he was going to do it in front of her, because, as much as everyone thought Alucard could not express the emotion, he'd probably be embarrassed about it. But the things Seras had been watching Alucard do, were all pertaining to the child that was growing in Seras. Their child.

When Seras had gotten pregnant, she didn't know. She knew something was wrong with her, she just didn't know what. Then one night, while Seras lay entangled with Alucard in the coffin they had been sharing for quite some time, he said,

"You don't know, do you?"

"Don't know what?" She asked.

A grin spread across his face. This grin was much different from the one that he usually bore. This grin did not hold a sinister tinge to it. This grin was genuinely happy, and excited.

One of Alucard's large hands came to rest on Seras's stomach, and he gently patted it once. Confusion spread over her face, and she only stared at the hand on her stomach. Alucard chuckled at the expression on Seras's face and said, "You're pregnant, my dear."

They both shared an equal amount of excitement. But, then they both realized they had to share this news with Sir Integra.

Alucard told Seras to stay out of the conversation he would have with their master, because he knew Integra was not going to be very happy about the news.

Alucard had thought Seras was sleeping, for it was only a few hours before dark. When she knew he was already in Integra's office, she sneaked up and stood outside the door. She was using almost all of her energy to mask her presence, so that Alucard did not know she was there.

Alucard and Integra argued for some time about the matter. Integra's biggest concern was how was Seras expected to work when she was pregnant. Alucard said that he would simply go on their missions by himself. He had no problem doing them himself before Seras had joined the Hellsing organization, and he certainly had no problem doing them by himself now.

"Who's going to take care of the child after it is born?" Integra had asked.

"Both Seras and I, of course."

"But again. What are you going to do when I have to send you somewhere?"

"Seras and I can take turns. I can stay here with the child, then she can. She doesn't need me to go with her anymore."

"Where do you plan on keeping this baby?"

"Down in the basement, with us, of course."

The questions and answers went back and forth for quite some time. Finally, Integra budged and agreed to the situation. She even ended the conversation with a somewhat reluctant, "Congratulations, Alucard."

But even though Integra agreed, that didn't mean she wasn't going to set rules for them. Almost every early evening it was something new that Integra was calling only Alucard to her office for. Seras listened in on what most days turned into bickering, of all things. When Seras would come around awake later on, Integra wouldn't be the nicest of people to Alucard, but was very pleasant to Seras. She'd ask Seras frequently how she was doing, and if Seras were to need anything, to only let her know.

It made Seras smile, though, when she listened in on her masters, and she heard the excitement in Alucard's voice. The convincing arguments he made with Sir Integra, to make her more comfortable with the matter. He wanted her on board, because he wanted her to share just a sliver of his excitement.

After the news being presented to Integra, Alucard and Seras spent most of their free time preparing for their child. Well, Seras would prepare for the child, and Alucard would do his own preparations while he thought she was sleeping. Seras thought this was adorable, that he was too embarrassed to do these things around her.

Almost every afternoon, Alucard left the manor and came back with something for the baby. It started with clothes and toys, and then moved onto furniture and décor for the baby's room. At first, Seras was touched that Alucard was waking up early to go and get these things himself, but then she was a little concerned as to how Alucard obtained these things, seeing as how they didn't actually get paid by Sir Integra for the work they did. But she knew it was probably a bad idea to ask Alucard, because she probably didn't want to know the answer.

The preparations Alucard made, he knew Seras obviously knew about, but still chose not to make these preparations around her. Seras never brought it up, but when she'd wake up and find him leaving their child's room, she'd stop him and give him a kiss to let him know she appreciated it.

Integra had given Seras a baby book to read so she knew what was to come with a child. She didn't know if a human child was quite the same as a vampire child, (and neither did Integra), but she decided to read it anyways.

Seras had finished the book one night, and had left it sitting beside the coffin. She had been laying down with her eyes closed for quite some time. Alucard, restless for some reason, and in his boredom, picked up the book. He turned his back to her, for what she thought was so that if she woke up, she wouldn't see him reading it. But she did. The book was a page turner to him. He didn't put it down until he finished it, and Seras thought it was the sweetest thing in the world to watch. The great vampire Alucard reading a baby book. Seras thought if that wasn't sweet, she didn't know what was.

There was one other thing Alucard did that he did while he thought Seras was sleeping. Months had gone by in Seras's pregnancy, and her stomach had grown much. Alucard had bent his body into a position no human could manage, so that he could rest his hands and head on Seras's swollen stomach. At first, he was only rubbing her stomach, but then he had begun to whisper to it. The rubbing was what had woken up Seras, and when she had heard the whispering, she decided to stay awake.

"I'm so excited to meet you," He began, his hands still rubbing, "so is your mother. I think even Sir Integra is excited to meet you. She doesn't show it, but I think she is. Probably because she knows how brilliant you are going to be. Any child of mine and your mother's will be brilliant. You're going to be just as strong as us. You're going to be just as smart as us. If not, you will be better than us.

"You're mother doesn't know yet, but I know. You're going to be a girl," Seras tried very hard not to make an excited noise at that, "and you're going to be absolutely beautiful. Especially if you look like your mother. She's probably the most beautiful woman anyone has laid their eyes on." Seras's heart almost melted when she heard those words.

She cracked open an eye, and found that Alucard probably couldn't see her, so she opened both of them. His hands had stilled, but his eyes were trained in a stare.

"Everyone, with the exception of very few people, is afraid of me. When your mother first met me, she was afraid of me for some time. I'm a monster," Alucard paused when he said this, his eyes closing, "and I have hurt a lot of people. But I'm never going to hurt you. And just because you're going to be a vampire like your mother and I, does not mean you're going to be a monster."

Alucard was quiet for a minute. His eyes remained closed, and one of his hands had gone back to rubbing. After some time, even quieter than he was speaking before, he said,"Everyone is afraid of me. I hope you won't be."

Seras still had her eyes open, and she could feel them become a little wet at his words. Alucard had become very still, his head and hands still resting on her stomach, his eyes still closed. Seras, even with all the progress she had been making, could not read Alucard's thoughts. That never bothered her, until right now. The expression that Alucard held on his face looked pained, and Seras needed to know what was on his mind.

_Is he scared?_ She thought, biting her lip.

Alucard was so still and silent, that Seras wondered whether he had fallen asleep. His face still held the pained look, and it was making her cold heart hurt. Very tentatively, her hands came and rested on his head and began to stroke his raven locks, and the second she did that, his eyes shot open.

Seras was frozen. Alucard didn't look at her right away, but finally his eyes traveled up and met hers, and Seras couldn't look away. His crimson eyes looked surprised, but not angry, and this was a relief to Seras.

They both stared at each other for a few moments, neither of them blinking.

Seras began stroking his hair again.

"Our daughter is not going to be afraid of you." She said, her voice soft. Alucard's head came off of her stomach, his expression changing to one Seras had never seen before. His expression looked worried.

"You heard me," He stated, not asked, and he looked down at his hands, while Seras's remained in his hair.

"I heard every word," Seras said, she didn't know whether to smile or not, "and if you can say those things to our child, if you can be open with her like that when you're not open with anyone, she's not going to be afraid of you."

Alucard kept his eyes down, his thin eyebrows quivered a bit. "But she'll know who I am."

"Who you are when you hurt people is not who you really are, because I know that's not who you want to be."

"That's not true," Alucard interjected, "you know I like killing."

Seras was quiet. She didn't know how to respond to that. One part of her thought that was true, but the other part of her wanted to deny it.

Finally she said, "Even if you're right, like you said, there are few people who are not afraid of you. I'm not, and Sir Integra's not,"

"I don't think Integra is afraid of anything..."

Seras laughed and smiled, "Even if that's the case, it's like you said. I was afraid of you, but I soon learned not to be. I knew you weren't going to cause me harm."

Alucard looked up at Seras, and she smiled softly at him.

"You treat me like a queen," She said, "So I know you'll treat our daughter like a princess. If you do that, what does she have to be afraid of? The things you've done? To other people? If you haven't done those things to me, then what will make her think you would do those things to her?"

He was quiet for a moment, still looking up at her.

Finally he said, "I'm holding you to that. Every word you've said."

"Is this your indirect way of saying I'm right?" Seras asked, laughing.

Alucard rolled his eyes, a playful smile coming onto his face, "Whatever helps you sleep, my dear."

Seras knew what did.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I got some really lovely reviews on this fic, and some people said they wished it would be continued, so I went ahead and made two more chapters. I personally don't know how I feel about it, and didn't have anyone to read it to get a second opinion, but I decided to post it anyways. I hope you all enjoy it. _

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"Why isn't she crying?"

"She's a vampire. Perhaps it did not hurt her."

"But she's a _baby_, it had to of hurt!"

"I think you're overreacting."

"But don't babies have soft spots?"

"_What?_" He asked, a rather comical expression of confusion taking over his features.

"You know, in their heads," Her hand came up and tapped various spots on her head.

"Is this a human thing I've never learned about?"

"Ugh!"

Seras and Alucard turned to their small child who, recently, had tumbled and hit her head. The baby stared back at them with her large red eyes, and giggled when her mother made a frustrated noise.

"And now she's laughing." Seras said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I told you she'd be okay." Alucard beamed at his creation, picking her up from where she sat and kissing her nose.

"Yes," He cooed at the infant, "Daddy was right. Yes he was." The baby, who they had named Celestina, giggled at her father and grabbed at his face with her small, pudgy hands.

Seras, in annoyance, twisted her mouth into a pout, her arms crossing against her chest.

"Check her head for a bump, at least. Just to be sure."

"Seras," Alucard sighed, cradling the baby against him, "are you forgetting that I am this child's father?"

"Are you implying that our baby is indestructible?" Seras deadpanned, an eyebrow going up.

Alucard chuckled, his attention drifting to Celestina as she grabbed his free hand and began to chew on it.

"I'm sure she might be," He said.

"Oh, well let's just toss her out a window then to see if she is!" Seras exclaimed sarcastically, her arms moving into a tossing motion.

"What an awful colour on you. I don't like this tone you've grown comfortable using with me. Watch your tongue when you speak to me." Alucard said. Seras rolled her eyes, and Celestina looked back and forth between her parents, pausing in her chewing on Alucard's hand.

"You're not the boss of me."

"Correction, I am. I'm still your master. My, my. Where was this Seras thirty years ago? Things could have been a lot easier if you donned an attitude like this."

Seras glared daggers at Alucard, and grit her teeth in a mixture of anger and annoyance.

At the tension rising between her parents, Celestina's bottom lip began to quiver, and soon enough, she began to cry.

"No, no, no, sweetie don't cry!" Seras said, her eyes tearing up as well (Seras had a habit of crying whenever her child did, which Alucard insisted she stop doing).

Alucard sighed, at first bouncing Celestina in his arms, and then beginning to rock her.

"Why is she crying?" Seras asked, worried.

"Because of the negative energy. You need to stop bickering with me."

"_I _need to?" Seras asked, anger bubbling up in her once again.

"Yes. Oh, don't give me that look. And calm down, or else she won't."

Seras sighed, calming herself. After a minute or two, Celestina had stopped crying, and now blinked her garnet eyes and began to suck on her hand.

"We created an awfully cute child." Alucard said, looking down at the baby, who looked back up at him and began to smile again.

Seras couldn't help but smile at her daughter, "Well you being her father definitely helped."

"Are you saying that I am attractive?"

"Oh, come on, are you so narcissistic that you have to hear me say it?"

Alucard shrugged, a smug grin creeping onto his face, "I'm sure every husband would like to hear his wife talk about how devastatingly handsome he is."

"'Devastatingly handsome'?" Seras asked, her eyebrow going up as she tried not to laugh.

Celestina made an odd noise, and like earlier, began to look back and forth between her parents in confusion. When Alucard directed his attention back down to her, a delighted smile made way onto her face. Seras couldn't help but smile as well.

"She gets so happy when you give her your attention," She said, stroking the small tuft of blond hair on Celestina's head, "She's such a little daddy's girl."

Alucard hummed, smiling when the baby grabbed for his hand so she could chew on it again.

"As much as I love how attached she is to you, it also terrifies me." Seras said, laughing.

"Why is that?"

"Because she's probably going to pick up all of your character traits. She's going to be an absolute menace. She probably will inherit your god awful arrogance, and will show the signs of a developing serial killer as she grows up."

"...Are you comparing me to a serial killer, then?"

"If they gave awards to serial killers, I think you'd have a few. You make Jeffery Dahmer look like a humanitarian."

Alucard let out a booming laugh, and when he laughed, Celestina's eyes widened in surprise, for she had never heard her father be so loud.

"You laughing about it rests my case."

"That was good. I have to tell Integra that one."

Seras rolled her eyes.

"So you think our child will be as irredeemably evil as I am?" Alucard asked.

"I don't necessarily think she will be _evil,_"

"But you think I'm evil,"

"You're only evil when you have to be. But you're absolutely psychotic all of the time. Which our daughter will and probably already has inherited from you."

Alucard smirked and played with the little bit of hair on his daughter's head, "Do you hear that, Celestina? Now your mother will have to deal with two of me. We get to annoy her as much as we want now!"

"Ah!" Celestina exclaimed, before going into a fit of giggles, which Alucard practically mimicked.

"You're almost 600 years old, and yet you still act like a child." Seras said, shaking her head.

"Like it's a bad thing. Celestina loves it."

"I dread the day she starts walking and talking."

"Oh, I anticipate it!"

Celestina made an adorable noise that only a baby could manage to make, making her parents both look down and smile. The infant then yawned, and blinked her eyes sleepily. Alucard stroked his daughter's hair and made his way to her room, Seras following.

"Let's see if she actually sleeps by herself this time." Seras said quietly, with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. Lately, the child had been refusing to sleep by herself, and would only sleep through the night if she slept with her parents. More particularly, if her father held her while she slept, which he had no complaints about.

Alucard looked down at the child, who was trying her best not to fall asleep. He smiled, still stroking her hair, and looked to Seras.

"One more night," He said, rocking Celestina.

"One more night is going to turn into the rest of her infancy, I just know it." Seras replied.

"Is that really such a bad thing? Just look at her. Can you really turn this little girl away?" Alucard said, propping his daughter up a fraction. Seras sighed, watching her daughter, her eyelids heavy with sleep and her father's hand in her mouth once more (she really needed to break the child of that habit).

"One more night." Seras said as she smiled softly.

Alucard would later fall asleep with Celestina in his arms, a sight, Seras thought to herself, she could look at for the rest of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

"I win!" The child proclaimed, a look of accomplishment taking over her features.

Integra furrowed her eyebrow. "You don't win, you cheated!"

"How did I cheat?"

"You read my mind, so you knew what move I was going to make!"

"Didn't you read my mind to figure out what moves I made?"

"Celestina, I can't do that. I'm human. You're a vampire."

"Oh. Well, daddy always says... he's says something like," Celestina tapped her cheek in concentration, "Survival of... uhm..."

"Survival of the fittest?"

"Yeah! He says that!"

"Yes, he would say that, wouldn't he?" Integra muttered, making Celestina laugh.

"You and mommy don't like a lot of the things daddy says." Celestina said, putting the game they were playing away.

"Your father says very... odd and opinionated statements, usually."

"Mommy calls daddy crazy a lot."

"That's nothing short of the truth,"

Celestina hummed, looking out the window. "Where are mommy and daddy?"

"They're working for me right now."

"But what do they do?"

"They fight vampires."

Celestina looked confused, "Why would they do that? Aren't we vampires?"

"Yes, you are, but they go after very bad vampires who hurt people."

"Oh." Celestina thought for a moment, "What if they get hurt?"

"Your mother and father are both very strong. I have high hopes that they will be fine."

"But what if they aren't?"

Integra sighed quietly, "Celestina, how about we play another game?"

"We've played four different games already!"

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

"No..."

"How about I read to you?"

"Your books are boring."

Integra let out a small huff, "They are not boring. Walter gave me most of those books,"

"Who's Walter?"

"He was a very good friend of your father and I."

"'Was'. So he's not your friend anymore." Celestina stated, rather than asked.

"I was hoping you wouldn't catch that." Integra said, in faint exhaustion.

Celestina gave Integra a curious look, her brilliant red eyes not blinking once as she stared at her. The eeriness of Celestina's stare actually chilled Integra a bit. Though the child looked much too like her mother, her stare was very akin to her father's.

"So where is he now?"

"Well, he's not here. Let's just-"

"Is he dead?" Celestina asked in a pressing manner, cutting Integra off.

"Yes." Integra replied, looking away from the child across from her.

"How did he die?"

"Celestina, you are asking a lot of questions right now."

"Because you keep trying to not answer them!"

"You are asking questions that you are too young to know the answer to."

"I'm six!"

"Which means you are still a little girl."

Celestina muttered something under her breath and slid out of her chair.

"Where are you going?" Integra asked, watching her.

"Away from you!"

"And why is that?"

"Because you're treating me like a baby!"

"Celestina, you still drink your blood out of sippy cup. It's safe to assume that you are, in fact, a child."

Celestina crossed her arms and pouted.

"Don't give me that look."

"I can do what I want!"

"Not if I say you can't!"

Celestina groaned and put her hands over her face, exasperated.

"You are so stubborn. Just like your father." Integra said, lighting up a cigar. "But you're unlike him in the sense that you feel the entitlement to talk back and disobey me. Your father would never talk to me like that."

"He wouldn't?"

"No, because he _respects_ me. So does your mother. She wouldn't talk to me like that, either."

Celestina gave Integra an odd look.

"Besides that, I am _much _older than you. I have seniority over you."

"But... daddy is older than you. So doesn't he have seniority?"

"No."

"How come?"

"Because he is my servant."

Celestina sat back down in her chair and rested her head on her hand. "How did that come about?"

Integra blew out a cloud of smoke. "It is a very long story that I don't feel like telling. Your father could tell it better than I, anyways. You should ask him."

"But he's not here."

"He will be soon. The sun will be up in a few hours."

"What if they don't make it back before the sun is up?" Celestina asked, worried. Integra laughed.

"Trust me, they will be fine."

Celestina fidgeted in her seat.

"Then how come I can't go in the sun?"

"Because you are so little."

"The only reason mommy doesn't like being a vampire is because she can't go in the sun."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I read her mind. I read her mind all the time. She _loathes _it."

"Excellent vocabulary choice," Integra said, amused, "I'm surprised your mother leaves her mind open for you to read."

"She says that I'm just powerful enough to do it. Like daddy."

Integra hummed and took a puff of her cigar.

"Mommy is afraid of me."

Integra raised an eyebrow, the amused smile on her face changing.

"What makes you say that?"

"She always thinks stuff like, 'Just like her father'; she's afraid I'm going to be like him."

"That's not necessarily the case," Integra began.

"But it is. She fights with him a lot. Not always about me, but usually about me."

"They fight?"

"All the time."

Integra bit her lip for a fraction of a second, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. "I think your mother just thinks you're too young to know the things your father teaches you."

"Daddy says it's important that I know what he teaches me. He tells mommy that he wants me to..."

Integra waited as Celestina tried to remember the word, that was probably large in her vocabulary.

"...surpass. He wants me to surpass him in every way."

"I can see where that might concern your mother. Your father has a... wild reputation. He is feared by many, and has been for hundreds of years. I think your mother is scared that people will also fear you."

"Daddy says it is good to be feared."

"Not all the time." Integra said, quietly. She then added, "It's being feared by the right people that is important. And in your father's case, he was, and is, feared by everyone. It is an advantage that he abuses."

"Do you think I'm going to be like that?"

"No. As much as your father likes to lead everyone to believe he is completely empty of feelings, he is not. He wants you to be like him, in the sense that you will be feared, though I think he wants you to be feared appropriately. I think he wants you to be like him because he doesn't want to see you getting hurt. But the problem that lies in that is that your father does, in fact, get hurt. He is just very good at hiding it."

Celestina was quiet.

"When do your parents fight?" Integra asked, redirecting their conversation.

"When they think I'm asleep. My room is right next to theirs. I hear them all the time. It's _awful_."

"You said they don't always fight about you. What else do they possibly fight about?" Integra asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Only one other person."

"They fight about a person? Who?"

"They never mention his name. Daddy always just calls him 'that mercenary'."

Integra breathed in deeply through her nose and stubbed out her cigar.

Celestina continued, "I guess mommy dreams about him a lot, and then she either wakes up crying or cries in her sleep, and daddy can't _stand _it."

"He's jealous," Integra said aloud, though she meant to keep it to herself. Fortunately, and oddly, it went right over Celestina's head.

"Do you know who this person is?" Celestina asked.

"Yes. He also worked for me at one time." Integra said.

"Let me guess. He's dead." Celestina said, resting her head on her arm.

"He died right in your mother's arms." Integra's face was void of emotion as she said this. Celestina picked her head up, however, and digged around Integra's thoughts, searching for more information.

"Instead of poking around in my head, why don't you do that to your mother?"

"She never thinks about him. Just dreams about him. His name was Pip?"

"Yes."

"What a stupid name."

"Don't let your mother hear that." A deep voice said. Celestina yelped when she looked up, as her father had materialized behind Integra. Integra rolled her eye and turned around, facing him.

"You think it is funny, scaring your daughter?"

"I love my small child's reaction. She's like her mother."

Celestina huffed and crossed her arms.

"Oh, and she's moody like her too. I love it. It's so cute." Alucard walked to his daughter and picked her up, even though she squirmed and muttered in a volatile manner, "Put me down".

"My vampire wife and daughter get jumpy when I appear out of nowhere, yet my human master does not. How odd."

"Be careful," Integra said, cracking a smile, "I'm old now. One day you actually might scare me and I'll have a heart attack."

Alucard laughed, "Maybe then I'll get to turn you."

"In your dreams."

Celestina finally had given up squirming in her father's arms, and now rested her head on his shoulder.

"Are you done rejecting my affection?" He asked, looking down at her.

"I got tired. Gimme a minute."

Alucard chuckled, and then set his daughter back down, turning to Integra. "So. Do you often talk about my wife and I's problems with our child?"

"Do you often listen in on private conversations?" Integra snapped.

"Oh ho ho, you are _not _happy."

"You need to start minding your own business. I don't care if I am speaking with _your _daughter, and I especially don't care if I am speaking about _**you **_with her- you are my servant. Know your place."

Alucard only grinned, his daughter slowly slipping into his coat and hiding, terrified of the tone the woman was using.

"You have scared my child."

"I'm sorry, Celestina, I didn't mean to get so angry in front of you." Integra said, resting her head in her hand. Celestina poked her head out and blinked.

"As long as you're mad at daddy and not me." Celestina said, making Integra laugh.

"Have I ever been cross with you?" The woman asked.

"No."

"Then there is nothing to be afraid of." Integra smiled, tucking the young girl's blonde hair behind her ear.

Alucard patted his daughter's head. "What did you two do today?"

"We played games and she cheated her way through every one." Integra said, trying not to laugh. Celestina grinned up at her father, nodding.

"Did you read Integra's mind?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Using your powers to take advantage of the disadvantaged. That's my girl."

Celestina nodded with a, 'mhmm', and covered her mouth as she yawned.

"Let's get you into bed." Alucard said, beginning to pick up his daughter.

"Not without a hug from Teggy!" Celestina exclaimed. Alucard chuckled and set his daughter back down, and she jumped into Integra's open arms.

"Now, how come she gets to call you Teggy, but I don't?" Alucard asked, feigning hurt.

Integra rolled her eye and smirked, "When you become a six year old girl, then you may call me Teggy."

"I can become a twelve year old girl," he suggested.

"I'd rather you not."

Celestina picked her head up at her father's words. "You can become a girl?"

Alucard chuckled, taking his daughter from his master. "Yes. I will show you tomorrow." Alucard nodded to Integra as he began to phase through the floors.

"I wanna see right now," Celestina said, poking her father's cheek.

"Right now, you are going to bed. Your mother is going to hurt me if I keep you up any longer." Alucard said as he carried his child to her room.

Celestina huffed and rested her head on her father's shoulder, "I thought you were in charge here."

"Your mother carried you for nine months and went through the excruciating pain of childbirth. Until I do that, she is in charge."

"That's right!" Seras said, coming into the room. Celestina turned her head at the sound of her mother's voice, smiling when she came and took her out of her father's arms. The child buried her face in the crook of her mother's shoulder, breathing in deeply.

"You always smell good, mommy." Celestina said, yawning. Seras only hummed, laying her daughter down in her small coffin. When she began to stand up, the child grabbed her hand and tugged.

"Will you stay until I fall asleep?"

"Yes. Your father too?"

The child nodded, and both of her parents sat next to her coffin, both beginning to stroke their daughter's hair.

"How did you guys meet?" Celestina asked, rolling onto her side. Alucard did not answer.

"Your father saved me from a mean vampire who hurt me. I didn't know your father was a vampire. I knew he was something, though. I was hurt very bad, and your father asked me if I wanted to live. I said yes, and he turned me."

"Was it love at first sight?" Her daughter asked, her voice muffled by the lining of her coffin.

Alucard rolled his eyes. "Celestina, that's a ridiculous concept,"

"No it's not," Seras interjected, waving her hand at her husband, "But no, it was not love at first sight. I was very scared of your father for quite some time. I eventually grew quite fond of him, but I didn't know I loved him until he was gone."

Celestina rubbed her eyes. "What do you mean 'until he was gone'?"

"He just... disappeared. For a very long time."

"Did you miss him?"

"So much, it hurt."

"What happened when he came back?"

Seras glanced quickly at Alucard, smiling. "I told him I loved him, and he said something... similar, and we decided to be together and have you."

The young girl was quite for a few minutes. Alucard slowly removed his hand from his daughter's head and stood up, ready to leave. Seras, however, stayed next to her child and continued to stroke her hair. Seras tried to slip into her daughter's mind to see if she was sleeping, but was blocked out, as per usual. Her daughter was powerful, like her father, and Seras found it impossible to ever get inside her head. She wondered why her daughter blocked her out. _She's only a child, _Seras thought to herself, _I wonder what she thinks about that she can't even possibly let me know_.

Alucard looked down at his wife upon hearing her. Seras looked up at him, their eyes meeting. Alucard pursed his lips, and nodded towards their daughter.

"I wish you two wouldn't fight so much." Celestina said immediately after Alucard's signal.

Seras, still looking at Alucard, observed as his eyes were trained on their daughter. She then looked down at the child.

"You hear us at night?" She asked, worry in her voice.

The young girl nodded. "Don't you guys still love each other?"

"Of course we do, sweetie," Seras said, her hand moving to rub her daughter's back.

"Then why do you fight?"

"It just happens. We don't mean to do it."

"Well if you don't mean to do it then don't do it at all. I hate it." The child's words were beginning to run together in her failing to stay awake.

Alucard clucked his tongue, releasing a quiet sigh. "We will try our best to stop."

"Promise?" His child asked, still not looking up at either of her parents.

"Promise." He replied.

Celestina tiredly rose her arm, making a fist and sticking her pinky finger out. Alucard smiled, intertwining his finger with hers.

"You too, mommy." The young girl said, wiggling her hand in what she thought was her mother's face. Seras also smiled and took her daughter's finger.

"I promise." Seras said.

The child was quiet once more. Seras had stopped rubbing her back, and removed her hand from her. Celestina released a content sigh, rubbing her head against the soft lining of her coffin. She then stuck her hand in her mouth, the habit that her mother was never able to break her of. Seras reached to remove her child's hand from her mouth, but stopped herself when Alucard leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his daughter's head. Alucard could sense that the child was still faintly awake, but when Seras leaned in to also give the young girl a kiss, she fell fast asleep.


End file.
